Asterias pentagonula, Lamarck, 1816

Jangoux, Michel, 2021, The asteroid species of Lamarck (Echinodermata: Asteroidea), Zoosystema 43 (13), pp. 213-252 : 238

pentagonula Lamarck, 1816 , Asterias

( Fig. 29 )

Asterias pentagonula Lamarck, 1816: 554 .

Anthenea pentagonula – Clark 1993: 296.

CURRENT STATUS. — Asterias pentagonula is newly synonymized here with Tosia australis Gray, 1840 .

MATERIAL EXAMINED. — MHNH; Lesueur drawings collection; ref. 74021; Baudin expedition; Péron and Lesueur leg .

DISTRIBUTION. — South of Australia and Tasmania.

REMARKS

Asterias pentagonula was often said to belong to the genus Anthenea which includes asteroids with an enlarged disc and relatively short though well-individualised arms. However, Lamarck’s description emphasises the peculiar shape of the species as “Aplati, presque discoïde, avec des angles courts [flat, almost disc-shaped, with shallow angles]”. Such an appearance does not fit with Anthenea and rather suggests that the species belongs to the genus Tosia Gray, 1840 , a suggestion that is consistent with both its origin (South Seas) and collectors (Péron and Lesueur). Several authors consider that Asterias pentagonula is a Chinese species. This is unlikely and could result from the synonymy of A. pentagonula with Anthenea chinensis Gray, 1840 in Müller & Troschel (1842: 57). This is a rather strange proposal as Gray’s species originated from the China-Japan area while Asterias pentagula came from the South Seas. Liao & Clark (1995: 99) consider that these species are two different taxa. The MNHN specimens identified Anthenea pentagonula belong to the species Anthenea australiae Döderlein, 1915 ; see previously under that species.

Figures

FIG. 29. — Asturias pentagonula Lamarck, 1816: A, B, abactinal (A) and actinal (B) surfaces; C, profile view; E, interradial arc; F, superomarginal and abactinal plates (MHNH, Lesueur collection 74021, details, courtesy of MHNH).